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Beyond the fringe
A REVUE
By
Alan Bennett – Peter Cook – Jonathan Miller – Dudley Moore

Samuel French, Inc.
1964. Additional Material Added to the Second Edition for the 1964 Production.


TAKE A PEW

ALAN BENNETT SOLO

The eleventh verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the book of Genesis, "But my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man." Perhaps I can paraphrase this, say the same thing in a different way by quoting you some words from the grand old prophet, Nehemiah, Nehemiah seven, sixteen.
And he said unto me, what seest thou
And I said unto him, lo

(He reads the next four lines twice.)

I see the children of Bebai,
Numbering six hundred and seventy-three,
And I see the children of Asgad
Numbering one thousand, four hundred and seventy-four.

There come times in the lives of each and every one of us when we turn aside from our fellows and seek the solitude and tranquillity of our own firesides. When we put up our feet and put on our slippers, and sit and stare into the fire. I wonder at such times whether your thoughts turn, as mine do, to those words I've just read you now.

They are very unique and very special words, words that express as so very few words do that sense of lack that lies at the very heart of modern existence. That – don't – quite – know – what – it - is – but – I'm – not – getting – everything – out – of – life – that - I – should – be – getting sort of feeling. But they are more than this, these words, much, much more – they are in a very real sense a challenge to each and every one of us here tonight. What is that challenge?

As I was on my may here tonight, I arrived at the station, and by an oversight I happened to come out by the way one is supposed to go in, and as I was coming out an employee of the railway company hailed me. "Hey, mate," he shouted, "where do you think you are going?" That at any rate was the gist of what he said. You know, I was grateful to him, because, you see, he put me in mind of the kind of question I felt I ought to be asking you here tonight. Where do you think you're going?

Very many years ago when I was about as old as some of you are now, I went mountain climbing in Scotland with a very dear friend of mine. And there was this mountain, you see, and we decided to climb it. And so, very early one morning, we arose and began to climb. All day we climbed. Up and up and up. Higher and higher and higher. Till the valley lay very small below us, and the mists of the evening began to come down, and the sun to set. And when we reached the summit we sat down to watch this most magnificent sight of the sun going down behind the mountain. And as he watched, my friend very suddenly and violently vomited.

Some of us think Life's a bit like that, don't we? But it isn't. You know, Life – Life, it's rather like opening a tin of sardines. We are all of us looking for the key. Some of us – some of us think we've found the key, don't we? We roll back the lid of the sardine tin of Life, we reveal the sardines, the riches of Life, therein and we get them out, we enjoy them. But, you know, there's always a little piece in the corner you can't get out. I wonder – I wonder, is there a little piece in the corner of your life? I know there is in mine.

So now I draw to a close. I want you when you go out into the world, in times of trouble and sorrow and helplessness and despair amid the hurly-burly of modern life, if ever you're tempted to say, "Oh shove this!" I want you then to remember, for comfort, the words of my first text to you tonight …..
"But my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man."

BLACKOUT